Musical apparatus.



Patented Dec. 5, 19H3.

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WALTER R. CRIPPEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

ASSIGNOR TO THE CRIPPEN COMPANY, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MUSICAL APPARATUS.

Application filed May 22, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER R. CRIPPEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Musical Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to musical apparatus of that class commonly called pianoplayers and has particularly to do with that part thereof usually referred to as the tracker-bar mechanism, the object of the invention being to provide an improved tracker-bar mechanism particularly adapted for a grand piano and which may be applied thereto without any material change in the construction thereof; in other words it can be applied to the ordinary grand piano without the reconstruction of such piano, and which can be applied without the necessity of adding any mechanism thereto other than the tracker-bar mechanism; in other words, without the necessity of devising means and ways for supporting the tracker-bar mechanism, and to that end the object of the invention consists in providing a very simple organization of tracker-bar mechanism so located that it may be readily adjusted into position so that the piano may be used as a piano-player or shifted out of the way so that the piano may be used as an ordinary musical instrument of this kind without in any way showing that it is also a pianoplayer.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved tracker-bar mech-y anism carried by and movable with the` shiftable music leaf support or rack.

Piano-player attachments have ordinarily.

` plied it has only been done by reconstructing the piano case or by the application of means which is unsightly and dilicult to apply, or which could not be so placed as to be entirely out of sight when it is desired to use the piano in the ordinary way. In other words, it was not practical to apply a tracker- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

Serial No. 840,142.

bar mechanism to an ordinary grand piano without reconstructing the piano to permit such application and even then the trackerbar mechanism had to be so located that a mere inspection of the instrument disclosed that it had a piano-player attachment, and not only this but in order to apply it various additions had to be made to support it.

In the present improvement the trackerbar mechanism is carried by the music sheet support or rack and consequently no supporting means other than that which the usual grand piano is provided with, to wit the music sheet support, is necessary for the application of this tracker-bar mechanism, nor is it necessary to materially reconstruct the case.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a frontyiew of a grand piano having this improved tracker-bar mechanism applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of Fig. l, the dotted lines illustrating the tracker-bar mechanism When shifted into the case, the full lines illustrating the normal position of the tracker-bar mechanism in use.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

Only so much of a grand piano as is necessary to illustrate the present improvement is shown, and in the present instance this consists of the usual case 2 having keys 3, the piano action not being shown as it is not necessary to illustrate the same in the present invention. Carried by the case 2 in the usual Way is the music sheet support 4 which is shiftable into an upright position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, or into a horizontal position within the case and below the cover, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. Q. Carried by this music sheet support at the rear side thereof is the tracker-bar mechanisln comprising the perforated tracker-bar 5, the supply roll 6, the take-up roll 7 and the usual mechanism, not shown, for operating these rolls to pass the perforated music sheet 8 over the tracker-bar. When this tracker-bar mechanism is applied to a piano having eighty-eight notes, the piano-player action will be connected with the tracker-bar by eighty-eight tubes, forty-four at each side, one only of each set being shown, and these tubes 10 and 1l may run from the tracker-bar through the piano case in the manner shown in dotted lines in Fig. l to the piano player action which may be located underneath the case as at 13.

Suitable means may be used, for maintaining the music sheet support and the tracker-bar mechanism in position such for instance as an adjustable prop or support 15 so that the tracker-bar mechanism may be in the same position when in use as is the ordinary music sheet, and when not in use may be shifted beneath the hinged cover 16 of the piano.

n the present improvement the music sheet support is provided with means which may be opened so that the operator may have full view of the perforated music sheet when in use, and for this purpose .i have shown a pair of swinging doors 1T and 153 which, when closed transforms the supporting means for the tracker-bar mechanism into an ordinary music sheet holder or support, and when open transforms the same into a piano-player. Moreover, it will be seen that an operator can by means of the present improvement, if for any reason this is desirable, place the ordinary music sheet at either side of the tracker-bar mechanism when the same is in use, and thus observe the music and the words during the operation of the instrument as a piano-player, and that when the doors are closed the piano can be used as an ordinary instrument, and when it is desired to close the piano by lowering the music sheet support and the tracker-bar mechanism carried thereby, the cover of the instrument can be closed.

From the foregoing it will be observed that without the use of any additional part other than the tracker-bar mechanism itself, the present improvement can be applied to an ordinary grand piano and be entirely out of sight from the front of the instrument if so desired even when using the instrument asa piano-player, since it is merely necessary to close the doors and operate the instrument in the usual manner. In -other words the, usual music leaf holder or support constitutes the sole means of supporting the tracker-bar mechanism at the rear thereof so that no additional mechanism to that which is usually present in a piano of this kind is necessary in order to apply the tracker-bar mechanism, so that the present improvement is simple in its organization and construction, readily adapted to grand pianos as ordinarily constructed, and easy of manipulation, and attractive in appearance, and provides a simple means of supporting the tracker-bar mechanism sc that it may be shifted into operation in an upright position at the top of the piano case and not forwardly thereof so as to mar the appearance of the front of the piano even when in use, or out of the way into the piano case. In practice the tracker-bar mechanism may be inclosed in a suitable case or box so that it will be entirely out of sight except when the doors are open.

l claim as my invention 1. ln a musical instrument having a keyboard and a case, the combination with a shiftable music leaf support, of a trackerbar mechanism carried by and movable with said support.

In a musical instrument having a keyboard and a case, the combination with a hinged music sheet support, of a trackerbar mechanism carried by and movable with said support.

3. in a musical instrument having a keyboard and a case, the combination with a shiftable music leaf support located at the top of said case, of a tracker-bar mechanism carried by said support at the rear thereof and movable therewith.

4f. ln a musical instrument having a keyboard and a case, the combination with a hinged music leaf support hinged at the top of said case, of a tracker-bar mechanism carried by said support at the rear thereof and movable with said support.

5. In a musical instrument having a keyboard and a case, the combination with a shiftable music leaf support, of a trackerbar mechanism carried by said support at the rear thereof and movable therewith, said support having shiftable means for eX- pcsing the tracker-bar mechanism.

6. In al musical instrument having a keyboard and a case, the combination with a shiftable music leaf support, of a trackerbar mechanism carried by said support at the rear thereof and movable therewith, said support having shiftable doors for eX- posing` the tracker-bar mechanism.

7. In a musical instrument having a keyboard and a case, the combination with a shiftable music-leaf support, of a trackerbar mechanism carried by said support at the rear thereof and movable therewith and inclosed at all sides when the leaf support is raised, and shiftable means carried by the leaf support for exposing the trackerbar mechanism from the front thereof.

Signed at New York, in the county and State of New York, this 20th day of May,

WALTER R. CRIPPEF. Witnesses C. A. Wrnnn, W. L. BAKELAR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington. D C.

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